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KaylaHoffman
Mr.White
CPEnglish
17November2015
PsychologyofAdvertising
MyseniorprojectisCafeTroubadour.CafeTroubadouristheendoftheyearchoirshow
thatisputoneveryyearbythechoirdepartment.Whatisincludedinmyseniorprojectis
decidingonashoworder,lightingdesigns,advertising,andtheseniorslideshowattheendof
thelastshow.
ForshoworderIplantoworkwithmyadvisorBevinAbbetodecideonwheretoput
eachpieceofmusicduringtheshowtogivetheaudiencethebestviewingandenjoyment
possible.Lightingdesignfortheshowwillbedoneduringpapertechandtechweek.Papertech
iswhenmeandMrs.Abbesitdownwelltechanddecideonwhatcolorswewanttostagetobe.
Lightingwillalsobedoneduringtechweekifchangesneedtobemadefromwhatwasdecided
onduringpapertech.Mrs.AbbeandIwilldecideonthebackgroundcolorsforthepiecesinthe
show.ForadvertisingthisshowIplantocontacttographicdesignclassatSantaSusanaandask
themiftheycancreatemultipledesignsforposters.Sincemypaperisonthepsychologyof
advertisingIplantousewhatIlearnfromittogivethemideastoputintotheposters.Inaddition
toposters,Ialsoplantoadvertiseonmostsocialmediaplatforms.MyresearchthatIdowillalso
helpmewiththesocialmediaadvertising.Thelastpartofmyseniorprojectisthesenior
slideshow.TheseniorslideshowisshowedattheendofthefinalshowforCafeTroubadour.It
isavideowhichshowcaseseveryseniorinthechoirdepartmentthroughbabyphotos,senior


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photos,groupmemories,andvideo.Ihavealreadystartedworkingontheseniorslideshow.I
interviewedeveryseniorinthechoirdepartmentduringthefirstweekofschoolandaskedthem,
Whatisonethingthatyouwanttotellyourselfbeforeyougraduate?planonalso
interviewingalloftheseniorsoncemoreduringtechweekforCafeTroubadour.Iplantoask
themagain,Whatisonethingyouwouldliketotellyourselfbeforeyougraduate.AfterI
haveallofthefootageIamgoingtoeditthemtogetherandputthemrightafterthepicturesof
theseniors.Itwillbedonetoseeifsenioryearhasanyimpactonone'sthoughtsofhimor
herself,orontheoveralloutlooksforlife.
Sincemyseniorprojectisputtingonashowandthereisnotmuchresearchablematerial
onthat,Ihadtochooseadifferenttopictoresearch.Ichooseatopicthatrelatestooneofthe
aspectsofmyseniorproject.IdecidedtogowiththePsychologyofadvertising.Iwentwiththis
topicbecausethereisalottowriteaboutforit.Alsoitpertainstotheadvertisingaspectofmy
seniorproject.Iwillneedtoknowwhatdifferenttacticscanbeusedtomakeasuccessful
advertisement.Thisisimportantbecausetheonlywaythatpeoplewillhearabouttheshowand
buyticketsforitisiftheyknowaboutit.Asuccessfuladvertisementwilldojustthat.Itwill
gaintheattentionofthepotentialpurchasersandmakethemwanttobuyatickettotheshow.To
knowhowtomakeasuccessfuladvertisementIwillneedtoresearchcolorinfluences,
subliminalmessaging,advertisingtheories,promotion,andadvertisingoversocialmedia.
COLORINFLUENCE

Colorisveryimportantinsellingaproduct.Ithasan85%influenceonwhetherornota
consumerpurchasesaproduct(Tornettaetal.,Colorsells:Howthepsychologyofcolor
influencesconsumers).Thethreedifferentprinciplesofcolorincludesaturation,hue,and


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value.Huedeterminesthelabelnameofthecolorforexamplegreenorblue.Saturationishow
intensethecoloris,andvalueishowbrightthecoloris.Thehumanmindviewsdifferentcolors
andconnectsthemwithmoodsandemotions.
Thinkofthecolorred.Nowthinkofanemotionforred.Themajorityofpeoplewill
thinkofanger?Thisisbecauseovertheyearshumanshavebeenconditionedtothinkthisway.
Theyhavebeenconditionedbytheirancestorstoassociatethecolorredwithdanger(Evans).
Also,peopleknowredasahottemperatureandredbecausethefacecanturnredwhenangry.
Subconsciouslyyourmindassociatesredwithanger.Thesamegoesforblack.Whensomeone
seesblack,theythinkofsadnessanddepression.Peopleatfuneralswearblack,andblackis
worninmourningone'spassing.Societyhasbeenexposedtothesecolorseverydayandhave
learnedtoassociatethemwithemotionsandmoods.
Asuccessfuladvertiserusesmoodevokingcolorsinhisorhersadvertisements.For
example,iftheywantedtobringacrossthethoughtsofcleantheywouldusethecolorsblueand
whitebecausetheyaregenerallyassociatedwithbeingcleanorhavingcleanliness.
SUBLIMINALMESSAGES

Everlookedatanadvertisementandfoundasubliminalmessagerightaway?Probably
not.Thisisbecausesubliminalmessagesarehiddenwordsorimagesandarepresentedbelowa
personsconsciousnessorawareness(Will,PhysiologicalConceptsinAdvertising).Thebuyer
maynotnoticethemessages,buttheadvertiserdoes.Researchershavefoundthatbyusing
subliminalmessagestheyareabletoalterbehavior,cognition,andattitudesofaconsumer.
Subliminalmessagingcanalsobedonebymeansofaudio.InanexperimentdonebyAdrianC.
Northaudiosubliminalmessagingwasused.


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Theexperimentwasconductedinaliquorstoreoveratwoweekperiod.Onalternating
daysFrenchandGermanmusicwouldplaybyadisplayforFrenchwinesandGermanwines
(North,Hargreaves,McKendrick).DuringthedaysinwhichFrenchmusicwasplayedinthe
store,MoreoftheFrenchwinewaspurchased.Thealternatingdays,inwhichGermanmusic
wasbeingplay,thesoldmoreoftheGermanwine.Anexampleofvisualsubliminalmessaging
isinanexperimentdonebyGrainneM.Fitzsimons.Inthisexperimentsubjectswere
subliminallyexposedtoeitherthebrandAppleorIBMinapresentationthenaskedtogothrough
creativitytests.AppleisknownforbeingcreativewhereasIBMismoreknownforbeingreliable
(Fitzsimonsetal.).Afterthepresentation,thesubjectswereaskedtowritedownasmany
unusualusesforabrickastheycould.Theresultsoftheexperimentwasthatthegroupexposed
totheApplelogohadwrittendownmorecreativeideasthanthegroupthatwasexposedtothe
IBMlogo.Thisgoestoprovethatalthoughpeoplemaynotknowthatthereissubliminal
messaginggoingon,it'sstillcanaffectthem.
ADVERTISINGTHEORIES

Asuccessfuladvertisementconsistofthreethings:acatchyslogan,relatablecontent,and
integration.Ifasloganistoolong,thepotentialpurchaserwillnotgraspalltheinformationthat
theyneedtoknow(ManningandKeller).Slogansarebestiftheyarekepttoafewwordswhich
stillgiveameaning.Anadisonlygoodifpeopleseeit.Relatablecontentinadvertisingmeans
showingsomethingthatconsumerscanrelatewithandhaveexperiencewith.Ifsomeoneis
targetingteenagersthanchancesare,theyaren'tgoingtomakeandadvertisementonpaying
taxesandvoting.Thisisbecauseitisn'trelatabletotheteenagers.Theywanttomakeanadthat
dealswiththesamethingsthattheiraudienceisdealingwith.Integrationisputtingtheadina


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locationwiththemostpotentialbuyers(HowdoI?5).Forexampleifsomeonewasdoingan
adfordogfoodtheywouldntputtheadupataschool.Theywouldhangitupatapetstore.
Thisisbecausetheaudienceataschoolisn'tgoingtobelookingforadogfoodad,theywould
belookingforschoolactivities.Atthepetstorethenumberofpeoplethatwouldpotentiallybuy
dogfoodishigherthananywhereelse,thusmakingitthebestplacetohangupanadvertisement
fordogfood.TherearefourprinciplestoasuccessfuladvertisingAttention,Interest,Desire,
andAction(Moutinho).Agoodadvertisementwillbringtheproducttothepotentialbuyer's
attention.Itwillalsohypeuptheinterestintheproduct.Desireismadewhenwhenthebuyer
decidesthattheywouldliketopurchasetheproduct(Cluley).Thisallleadsintoaction,whenthe
productisfinallypurchased.
PROMOTION

Inpromotinganditem,contentmatters.InanexperimentdoneinSouthAfricaby
MarianneBertrand,DeanKarlan,SendhilMullainathan,EldarShafir,andJonathanZinman,they
measureddemandsensitivitytoadvertisingcontent.Forthisexperimenttheysentoutdifferent
materialsforaloancompany.Somehadthelogoandinformationandsomehadpictureonthem.
Thiscausedmotivationintheconsumer.Theysawthesmilingpersonandtheirsubconscious
causedwasmanipulatedintothinkingtheadwasmorethanwhatitreallywas.Alsoinanother
adthatincludedWespeak(clientslanguage)(Bertrandetal.)tothethosewhodidnot
primarilyspeakEnglish.Someofthemailedadshadapromotionalflyerwithacellphoneasa
raffleprizeonit.Theresultsofthiswasthattheclientswhogottheraffleflyerweremorelikely
callthecompany.Thisgoestoshowthatifarewardifoffered,peoplearemorewillingto
participate.


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Anotherimportantpartaboutpromotionistiming.Itisimportantthatpromotional
informationisputoutweeksbeforetheactualevent.Thisisimportantsothatpeoplecanhavea
chancetoseetheadvertisements.Themoretimethattheyareout,themorepeoplewillseethem,
andthemoretheywillbetalkedabout(Allen).Ontheotherhand,thepostersshouldnotbeput
outtoofarinadvance.Iftheyareoutfortoolongthenpeoplewillforgetaboutthemandjustend
uppassingbythem.Iftheyhavealreadyseentheposteralotthentheywillnotevenglanceatit
anymore.
ADVERTISINGOVERSOCIALMEDIA

Withsocietyadvancingnowadays,soistechnology.Advertisinghasmovedawayfrom
theprintednewspaperandontothescreens.Socialmediaplatformsareimportantforadvertising
becausemostoftoday'spopulationusagestheinternetandspendsmostoftheirdayonthe
internet.Itisafastandeasywayforanadtogetoutthere(Taflinger).Alsoifapersonlikes
producttheycanmakeapostonitandshareitwiththeirfriends,thusgainingitmoreexposure
andmorechancesofitbeingpurchasedagain.Facebookisoneofthemostwidelyusedsocial
mediaplatformsinnowadayssociety(Todi).Itprovidespeoplewithaplatformtopoststatuses,
photos,andvideos,sothattheirfriendscanseeit.Socialmediaisabigpartofadvertising
becauseitisoneofthefastestwaysforinformationtospread(LePage).
AsuccessfulwaytoadvertiseonFacebookiswithphotosandlinks.92%ofadvertisers
haveusedFacebooktoadvertiseaproductorservice(Gregorio).Whenscrollingthrough
Facebookandpotentialconsumerismorelikelytoclickonanadvertisementthatincludesa
photoratherthanjustatextbox.Tomakeasuccessfuladvertisementtheremustbeavisually
appealingphotointhead.Alsobyprovidingalinktoawebsitetheadwillgetmoreinteraction


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(Todi).Thisisalsobeneficialiftheadisforashowbecausethelinkcantaketheconsumer
straighttothepagetobuytheticketsfortheshow.
CONCLUSION

Thispaperhastaughtmethatadvertisingisn'tjustaboutputtinginformationonaposter.
It'saboutknowingyouraudienceandadaptingtheinformationtotheirlikingandunderstanding.
Alsoitisimportanttoknowhowtousecolortoevokeemotionwithinyouraudience,
alongwithhowtousesubliminalmessaging.Anotherimportantfactorinthepsychologyof
advertisingistolearntheories,andpromotion.Thefinalsteptomyresearchwaslearningabout
howtosuccessfullyadvertiseoversocialmedia.Thisincludeshowtocanthemostpeopletosee
yourpostandhowtomakesurethattheygainunderstandingandarepersuadedtobuytickets.
IplantoincorporatemostofwhatIhavelearnedintomyseniorproject.Theadvertising
partofmyseniorprojectisveryimportantasitisthewaythatpeoplefindoutabouttheproject
aswellasgetinformationonthetickets.IhavelearnedfrommyresearchthatIwillneedto
choosecolorsthatwhichcatchpeople'sattentionandmakethemwanttopurchasetickets.Iwant
tobringpeopleajoyfulposterthatencouragesthemtopurchasetickets.ForthisIwillmost
likelyuseyellow,white,blue,andgreen.AlsofromwhatIhavelearned,Idonotthinkthereis
thereanywaytoincorporateasubliminalmessageinmyadvertising.ThisisbecauseIamnot
usingaudiofilestoadvertisingandIamalsonotusinganyvideosforadvertising.Sincemostof
thesubliminalmessagingstrategiesthatIresearchedusedaudiovideotacticsIwillnotbeableto
incorporatethemintomyposters.Asfarasthewordinggoes,Iwillneedacatchyslogan.This
willhelpthepotentialticketbuyerremembertheshow,thusforthbringingitupintheremind
more,whichwilleventuallyleadthemtopurchasingticketstotheshow.


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Mostofmyadvertisingformyseniorprojectwillbedoneoversocialmedia.Iplantouse
Facebook,Twitter,andInstagramtopromoteCafeTroubadour.Basedonmyresearch,Iwill
needtoputagraphicwithmyadvertisment.ForthisIwillmostlikelyuseadigitalversionofthe
promotionalposter.Bydoingthis,Iwillgrabthepublic'sattentionandgaintheirinterestinmy
show.AllofmyresearchwillbebeneficialinpromotingCafeTroubadourattheendofthe
schoolyear.ByusingtheinformationgainedbythisresearchpaperIamhopingonhaving3sold
outshows.

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.JournalofConsumerResearch.
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Will,Kelsey.
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